A Christian allegory for man's journey to heaven, The Pilgrim's Progress follows Christian on his journey from the City of Destruction to Mount Zion and the Celestial City. Along the way he encounters many who will mislead him or do him harm as well as many terrors, such as the Valley of the Shadow of Death. He also meets friends along the way, chief of whom are Faithful and Hopeful.

Though I do not share the religious beliefs of the author, this was an interesting tale. Much of it is filled with the dangers a good Christian can expect to encounter in his walk with God and the text is liberally sprinkled with Biblical verses, parables, and sermons. Yet, despite that it was not difficult to read from that aspect. I actually had a harder time with the old fashioned language. As this was written in 1678, it was written in the language of the time and as such to a modern reader this slows down the narrative. I think that a person who is strong in their Christian faith would have much to gain from reading this tale, and it wouldn't do anyone else much harm either as it's a useful tool in learning about Christianity in the 1700s, during which time there was a lot of upheaval in the religious ranks.

Apparently there is a second half, which gives the details of the journey of Christian's wife and children, which had stayed behind in the City of Destruction, thinking him mad. My edition only included Christian's journey. If I can get a hold of the second half of the narrative I will update my review to include that portion.